The White Dragon was filled with shock. “How do you know that language?!”

The Librarian said, “I was there when Darkness created Agleon and the many creatures that inhabited one time or another, I would have been a fool not to remember his words.”

The White Dragon pressed, “But how are you able to speak them, no one but Darkness should be able to utter them!”

The Librarian said, “Well it is obvious, I paid a price to get the power to do so, a price that I still wonder if I should have paid.”

“What did you pay?” she asked.

The Librarian glanced at her, the White Dragon freezing under his gaze.

“Do you truly wish to know?”

She gulped and finally said, “Perhaps not.”

The Librarian then sipped some tea, filling it back up meticulously after he had finished.

As he poured the tea, he said, “In all my years of observation, I have seen many things, nations rising and falling, mortals waging war and bringing peace. It was strange to me, how so much diversity can be contained within you mortals. In time, I discovered that was most likely because of the free will you were given, to choose how you want to live. And yet, you also regret some choices you made in your life and attempt to fix it, even though you cannot turn back time. For some reason, you believe that gaining power in some shape or form will fix all of your mistakes and so you strive towards the top, believing that something great will happen once you reach the top. And once you reach the top, you discover that perhaps, it really wasn’t worth it after all, that the only thing enjoyable about the whole thing was the journey. Time and time again this happens and yet you never learn to stop, it seems that the allure of power is simply too much. Tell me, are my observations correct?”

The representatives were silent, each pondering how to refute his theory.

Finally, the human woman spoke again, saying, “Yes, you are right in saying that we mortals pursue power to fix past mistakes. But that is not the only thing we long for, we also seek power to protect things and people precious to us.”

The Librarian nodded.

“Yes, I have seen that too, although it has been quite lacking as of late. I do believe it is caused by an emotion, love. And I can understand why you mortals fall prey to it so easily, it is like a drug, capable of bringing great euphoria but also great despair. It can serve as one’s greatest strength but one’s greatest chains and yet you all yearn for it, ignoring the boons and flaws it can bring. It seems that it is just a part of you, an instinct that you cannot ignore. And perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that you mortals are social creatures, most can’t bear to be alone without going insane.”

The woman seemed to want to say something but she then thought about it.

Finally, she spoke, “Well, love isn’t just that Lord Librarian. Love isn’t something that is so easily explained, it is a wonderful thing when you meet the right person. Love can save even the most corrupt, it isn’t just something that brings pleasure.”

The Librarian nodded.

“Yes, I do suppose you are right. It is something that even I do not fully understand and perhaps it is better that way, for love is useless to one such as me.”

The human woman couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

The Librarian answered, “It is because I am alone, a unique existence among all of Life. All creatures were created with opposites to which they are attracted but I lack that opposite. I am, for a lack of better words, a complete being.”

Seeing the confused looks of the representatives, the Librarian decided to explain.

“What I mean is that I am well and truly Immortal. Not like the gods, they may have eternal life but they are not invulnerable to death, they can still be killed. I am both immortal and invulnerable, meaning that Death has no power over me. But, of course, that is not without a price. I do not have a ‘partner,’ I am alone and always will be. You mortals and the gods are incomplete, you must seek out your other half in order to bear children, your own method of immortality. As long as a child that bears your blood exists, you are not truly dead. But as I will never die, I have become an existence that does not need such things as love and a mate, therefore when I came into being, these things were denied to me. This form you see before you is not representative of my true nature, it was just something I adopted to more easily communicate with mortals.”

Upon hearing his explanation, the mortals were shocked and awed, this was a True Immortal. All of them had no doubt in their minds that the Librarian could defeat gods with but a glance and the White Dragon realized why he seemed so familiar, he was very similar to Darkness. That aura, it was so similar, yet there were obvious differences. Perhaps the Librarian would become an existence like Darkness if given time. Of course, if she were to find out that the Librarian was actually a piece of Darkness, she’d probably faint from shock but the Librarian had no intention of revealing itself. After all, it was a persona that had no relation to Darkness other than personally witnessing it creating Agleon, it wasn’t the Surveyor.

Finally, the representatives from Auster began to speak, a Satorian pulling back her hood and gazing at the Librarian with large black eyes.

“Lord Librarian, I am curious, why have you only started to occupy Otium as of recently?”

The Librarian replied, “Although I am immortal, it does not mean I cannot be harmed, when the Great Calamity arrived a thousand years ago, I was injured greatly when aiding Grand Archmage Ieros to defeat End. Upon recovering from my injuries, I looked for a place to stay and remembered Otium, a place that Ieros built.”

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The Satorian blinked and then bowed her head.

“It seems I must thank you, without your efforts, I doubt that Agleon would still be here today.”

The Librarian shook his head.

“Don’t thank me but the Grand Archmage, if not for him, I would have left Agleon and searched for another world to observe.”

The Satorian nodded, “Very well, I give thanks and pay my respects. It is a shame though, from the records of the Imperial Library, Ieros seemed to be a great man. I would have liked to meet him in person.”

The Librarian offered, “Well, you won’t meet him in person but I can allow you to meet my memory of him. It is quite accurate, it holds a version of him before he and I fought against End. But this is knowledge as well so you will have to pay a price.”

The Satorian nodded, “I understand. Lord Librarian, how about this, I will give you access to the Library of Silenda and the Library of Auster’s Capital in exchange for meeting Ieros and the right to obtain some books from your Library.”

The Librarian thought on this and finally said, “This is acceptable, you may meet with Ieros and choose three books from the First Level. Once you have returned, I will lead you to the First Level and explain what you must do to choose a book.”

He then casually waved with his hand, a black gate appearing near the Satorian.

“Within you will find Ieros.”

She stood and bowed to the Librarian before stepping through the gate, disappearing into its dark depths. The gate closed, leaving the room minus one Satorian.

The Librarian then surveyed the representatives, looking to see who had not yet spoken.

Seeing the White Dragon’s champion he asked, “What is it you want?”

The Saurian thought for a moment, finally saying with conviction, “To gain the power necessary to protect the White Dragon.”

The Librarian cocked its head curiously.

“But she is quite powerful, she doesn’t need protection.”

The Saurian nodded, “I know but nevertheless, it is the desire of me as her son to protect his mother, a desire all Saurians share.”

Seeing his absolute loyalty and devotion to the White Dragon, the Librarian could understand. After all, he felt much the same to Darkness.

The Librarian then said, “Well, I do know a way for you to obtain such power, it would be to forcibly ignite your evolution and hasten it, meaning that you will undergo various changes that will make you more powerful. But to obtain this power, you must pay with the hearts of five lesser dragons or a divine artifact.”

The Saurian’s eyes, burning hope, dimmed.

“I cannot pay this price.”

The Librarian said, “There is no time limit, you may return when you have obtained one of these two prices.”

Upon hearing this, the Saurian stood and bowed deeply, saying with gratitude, “I thank you, Lord Librarian. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

The Librarian just nodded.

It then looked to the others and asked, “Are there still questions that need to be answered?”

Seeing nothing, the Librarian was about to end the meeting when the human female spoke once more, sweat collecting on her forehead, “Lord Librarian, if it isn’t too much trouble, would you allow the Alliance to live within Otium?”

The Librarian shook its head, “No, Otium is not a city, it is a place of rest. But I will not have any problems with any living near it. I hope this satisfies your needs.”

She was slightly disappointed but bowed her head, “It is more than enough, Lord Librarian. I thank you for giving my people a chance for survival.”

The Librarian looked at her and said, “But know this, I will not aid you should you come under attack. Those that enter Otium will be protected but other than that, you will be on your own.”

She nodded, unable to hide the disappointment in her face. She had hoped for too much, this Librarian was not a generous fellow.

He then looked once more to the others and asked, “Now, is this all?”

There were no more questions and so the Librarian brought the meeting to an end. He had learned much from this conversation through the desires of the representatives, after all, desires were reflections of the mind after all. He first took everyone outside before returning to the garden, waiting for the Satorian to finish her conversation. In the meantime, he recorded what he had heard into his Library, the Satorian appearing through a black gate just when he had finished. She bowed to him and he just nodded to her, escorting her to the First Level to pick out the three books she wanted.

The Librarian explained the rules of selecting books, “Be careful, once you touch a book you have chosen it, whether or not you meant to do so. The titles of the books are self-explanatory so you should have no trouble picking out what should suit you best. Once you have selected your books, take them to the nearest golem. It will make copies for you to take, the originals cannot leave the Library.”

She nodded and the Librarian said, “I will come later to visit your Libraries, I will warn you ahead of time.”

Once he was done explaining, he stepped through a black gate and disappeared, leaving the Satorian to choose what books she wanted. She soon selected three books, each of them relating to the magic of Ieros, although since these were from the First Level, they did not possess his high-tiered spells. This was something that the Surveyor had played with in his spare time, most of what Ieros could do was entirely dependent on the Surveyor but the Surveyor had no intention of doing so again. So he decided to make alternate spells that an exceptional mortal could use without his help. Of course, the power of said spells was significantly weaker but they were still powerful compared to mortal spells.

And they were almost legendary in this era as many of the races have been losing their connection with Magic, especially the humans who lost many of their powerful mages and stores of knowledge during the Invasion. Without powerful mageblood, humans no longer had access to the more powerful magics and they degraded to such a state. The orcs were the only exception as they could take magic, although their control of it was a far cry to the sophisticated magic of the humans and elves. Even the Satorians could not escape their eroding control over Magic and the Satorian hoped that with the magic of Ieros, she may be able to salvage the magic of her race.

She soon acquired the copies from a nearby golem and exited the Library, joining the rest of Auster’s representatives to return home. The others followed her example, the elves and humans eager to return to tell the Alliance of the good news. The White Dragon took off with her champion and returned to Saurian lands and the Orc King returned, his great army following behind him. He set sail for home, his thoughts turning from the Library to how he would control the situation back home. He was sure that during his absence, several ambitious clan leaders would definitely try to take control and he looked forward to crushing them.

Meanwhile, the Surveyor cast aside its persona and just rested, absorbing the thousand-year-old memories of Agleon’s shadows.